Food in Nunavut still costs up to 3 times national average WB:@eskura SB:@MsALambert

It likely won’t come as a surprise to northerners, but the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics’ newest food price survey shows people in the territory still pay two or even three times as much as the average Canadian for basic necessities.

Every March, the government agency collects food prices in all 25 Nunavut communities and compares that data with average Canadian prices compiled by Statistics Canada for the CPI Food Price Basket.

At $6.90, a 1-kilogram bag of carrots costs three times more in Nunavut than it does in the average Canadian grocery store ($2.25).

Shoppers in Nunavut pay $13.70 for a 2.5-kilogram bag of flour, which is 2.7 times more than the average $5.00 across the country.

The data also applies to some other basic necessities, including a 100-millilitre tube of toothpaste, which costs $6.05 in Nunavut, or $2.61 nationally.